Tools for Writers

[Starbeam]

Scribophile looks interesting, but I would actually suggest Book Country.  It's a critique/discussion community for genre writers, set up by Penguin, but completely separate from them.  The process there is that to post your work, you review/critique 3 pieces, and then your work will be public.  You can post as much or as little as you want, and different people can view different amounts--nonmembers can see about 3000 words, members can see about 10,000, I think, and I believe contacts can see all of it.  Plus, when they were setting up the site, they spoke with agents, editors, etc, to make sure posting wouldn't change first publishing rights or chances of getting picked up, or anything. 

They will not allow anyone under 18, though, but on twitter, they've linked to http://writeonteens.com/ for anyone under.

Oh, one of the main people behind it is Colleen Lindsay, who used to be an agent and has worked for several of the publishers.

The big thing I consider a good reason for going there--two authors have been picked up--Kerry Schafer and Michael R Underwood--both with at least 2 books contracted. Underwood's book, Geekomancy, came out from Pocket Star this past Tuesday so it could be hyped at SDCC.

Which reminds me, I should review some stuff so I can start putting up my draft.

[Winter_Knight]

Scribophile looks interesting, but I would actually suggest Book Country.  It's a critique/discussion community for genre writers, set up by Penguin, but completely separate from them.  The process there is that to post your work, you review/critique 3 pieces, and then your work will be public.  You can post as much or as little as you want, and different people can view different amounts--nonmembers can see about 3000 words, members can see about 10,000, I think, and I believe contacts can see all of it.  Plus, when they were setting up the site, they spoke with agents, editors, etc, to make sure posting wouldn't change first publishing rights or chances of getting picked up, or anything. 

They will not allow anyone under 18, though, but on twitter, they've linked to http://writeonteens.com/ for anyone under.

Oh, one of the main people behind it is Colleen Lindsay, who used to be an agent and has worked for several of the publishers.

The big thing I consider a good reason for going there--two authors have been picked up--Kerry Schafer and Michael R Underwood--both with at least 2 books contracted. Underwood's book, Geekomancy, came out from Pocket Star this past Tuesday so it could be hyped at SDCC.

Which reminds me, I should review some stuff so I can start putting up my draft.

:O COOL!!

[superpsycho]

One item I did pickup, and actually use, is called ‘ginger’. It’s supposed to be proofreading/grammar software. It's not perfect by a long shot but it does call attention to potential problem areas. It doesn't handle profession or trade specific jargon well, but it catches stuff my brain would skip over. This one you might find worth trying and it's free.

It's free and you can get Ginger Here

[trboturtle]

I came across this blog via a link on the Passive Voice Blog (http://www.thepassivevoice.com) In this entry, the blogger lists several paid/free editing software that you might find useful. The post is at http://virginiaripple.com/paid-and-free-editing-software/ I've  tried the two free ones, and while they won't replace a human editor, they should help eliminate some of the more obivious problems.

Craig

[THE_ANGRY_GAMER]

Just started the scrivener for windows trial - it is awesome.

[MClark]

Here's a tool for your terrorist thriller / post apocalyptic genres:

http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

[t3h5qu1d]

Hello everyone. I just joined this forum as suggested by my friends. I have been trying to write a novel for years now with no real progress. I was amazed to find that there was so many resources out there. I found this post very helpful and I hope to find the right tool out of the many that were posted on here.

[t3h5qu1d]

Are there any good apps for android that might help?

[Paynesgrey]

Three that help me.

Dropbox, to access my files by phone.  Save to dropbox in .rtf.
Coolreader to read those files.
Ivona text-to-speech, and I have the phone read my the story on my headset at work.  Lets me catch things that the eye would miss but the ear picks up on.  Great for listening to regular ebooks too.

[slrogers]

(I'm glad there's a bit of a nubie alert along with these post saying I'm new to all of this...)

I'm not sure if this goes here or not, especially since it's not necessarily a tool for writing but rather perhaps more for marketing. But I got iMovie for the iPhone (it's probably available for android and microsoft as well -- I don't know how useful that link is here).

With it I was able to easily put together this trailer for my book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zny7-KgW8CI&safe=active

I'm still very new to all of this, but all of the reaction that I've gotten back so far has been extremely positive.

[deindeverse]

That might be Scrivener: http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html


That's it! - Mickey

I read this post a while back, and I can't tell you how much it helped me.  I'd only worked on short stories before, and wanted to work on a book.  Doing it with MSWord was looking like a headache, so I came here to see what others used.  I checked out Scrivener, used it for the trial period, and have been hooked ever since.

I'm still working on the book, and Scrivener (for the PC) has been a tremendous help.  I love the layout, and the way the manuscript works, it makes everything easy.  I've got character templates set up, and the story broken into different acts/folders with a new text page for each chapter. 

If anyone is just getting started, I'd recommend taking a look at Scrivener.  It's probably not for everyone, but I'm fairly disorganized, and its helped keep me going.

[RobJN]

I read this post a while back, and I can't tell you how much it helped me.  I'd only worked on short stories before, and wanted to work on a book.  Doing it with MSWord was looking like a headache, so I came here to see what others used.  I checked out Scrivener, used it for the trial period, and have been hooked ever since.

I'm still working on the book, and Scrivener (for the PC) has been a tremendous help.  I love the layout, and the way the manuscript works, it makes everything easy.  I've got character templates set up, and the story broken into different acts/folders with a new text page for each chapter. 

If anyone is just getting started, I'd recommend taking a look at Scrivener.  It's probably not for everyone, but I'm fairly disorganized, and its helped keep me going.

This is fantastic. Glad it helps. Now get back to work on that novel

[deindeverse]

This is fantastic. Glad it helps. Now get back to work on that novel

That I am.  My post was my celebration for completing my first draft.  Alas, now comes the hard part.

[Paynesgrey]

I read this post a while back, and I can't tell you how much it helped me.  I'd only worked on short stories before, and wanted to work on a book.  Doing it with MSWord was looking like a headache, so I came here to see what others used.  I checked out Scrivener, used it for the trial period, and have been hooked ever since.

I'm still working on the book, and Scrivener (for the PC) has been a tremendous help.  I love the layout, and the way the manuscript works, it makes everything easy.  I've got character templates set up, and the story broken into different acts/folders with a new text page for each chapter. 

If anyone is just getting started, I'd recommend taking a look at Scrivener.  It's probably not for everyone, but I'm fairly disorganized, and its helped keep me going.

I've been preaching gospel on Scrivener to everyone I know on facebook.  Seriously... that program has saved me soooo much grief, between backing up every 5 seconds and letting me instantly compile a manuscript into kindle, nook, or any other format... can't recommend it enough.

[Snowleopard]

Heyla PG.
Is Scrivener expensive and how much room do you need
on a computer for it?